TV soaps are dared to mention politics for a pinch of real life

Britain's lack of interest in citizenship could get a boost from the television soap opera world which for decades has been virtually politician-free.

Storylines involving elections, party meetings and other basics of democracy would give current affairs a fillip, according to a leading academic, as well as benefiting the "sometimes weirdly unrealistic" dramas themselves.

A pact by parties to relax broadcasting rules could encourage producers, says Stephen Coleman of Leeds University's institute of communications studies, allowing characters to take sides or even simply discuss the Westminster battle.

"There's something not quite right when pubs such as the Rover's Return (in Coronation Street) or the Bull (in the Archers) are the only ones in country where Tony Blair is never mentioned," he said. "Soaps have modernised in pretty much every other way, but they cling to the old dinner party rule that it isn't right to talk about politics."

The notion of using the powerful medium to help more civic engagement - a goal preached by all parties - will be launched today by Professor Coleman and Phil Redmond, creator of the soaps Grange Hill, Brookside and Hollyoaks. A report, The Westminster Wing: The Depiction of Politicians and Politics in British Soaps, argues that both politicians and TV companies should follow the example of Big Brother and "get real". "The potential benefits are enormous," said Prof Coleman, "because we have ample evidence that people follow the soaps' lead in their own behaviour." When Coronation Street's Alma Halliwell missed a smear test and died of cervical cancer in 2001, tests rose by almost a quarter.

"The same effect would be likely to follow more engagement by the soaps in campaigns, tribunals, school governorships - all the essentials of democracy," said Prof Coleman.

Research suggests that on the rare occasions when politics do form part of plots, participants are mocked - as with Lynda Snell on Ambridge parish council in the Archers, or Emily Nugent up a tree all night for an eco-protest in Coronation Street.

The report quotes the BBC's chief adviser of editorial policy, Claire Powell, as saying: "Our commitment to impartiality means that we couldn't, for example, make a Green councillor a likeable, fun character yet portray a Labour MP or councillor as a rogue." But it argues that a more sophisticated political balance could be devised to give each party its share of heartthrobs, crooks and ordinary footsoldiers.